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ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 



OF 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 
OF NATURAL HISTORY 

Vol. XIX, Part III 

KINSHIP IN THE PHILIPPINES 

BY 

A. L. KROEBER 




NEW YORK 

PUBLISHED BY ORDER OJ THE TRUSTEES 

1919 



-..]fii) 



American Museum of Natural History. 

PUBLICATIONS IN ANTHROPOLOGY. 



In 1906 the present series of Anthropological Papers was authorized by the 
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Volume XIX. 

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Plates I-IV, and 6 text figures. 1916. Price, 1.00. 

II. The History of PhiUppine Civilization as Reflected in Religious Nomencla- 
ture. By A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 35-67. 1918. Price, $.25. 

III. Kinship in the Philippines. By A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 69-84. 1919. Price. 
$.25. 

IV. (In preparation.) 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 



OF 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 
OF NATURAL HISTORY 



Vol. XIX, Part III 



KINSHIP IN THE PHILIPPINES 



BY 



a.'L.'kroeber 




NEW YORK 

PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES 

1919 



Td 



u 



CJ- 



KINSHIP IN THE PHILIPPINES. 
By a. L. Kroeber. 



69 



CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Introduction 73 

The Data 75 

Analysis of the Data 78 

Reconstruction of the Ancient System 81 

Lines of Development of the Ancient System .... 82 

Correspondence of Institutions and the Kinship Scheme . 83 

Theoretical Principles Involved . 84 



71 



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in 2011 with funding from 
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Introduction. 

This essay attempts a review of the more readily available data on 
the terminologies in use, among the natives of the Philippine Islands, 
for relatives by blood and marriage; an analysis of these data with a 
view to the determination of the Filipino system of kinship designation 
at a former period; the lines of growth of this system and their affect- 
ing causes; the relation of the system to contemporary institutions 
and cultural phases; and methodological inferences. 

March. 1919. 



73 



The Data. 

The materials used are the following: — 

Nabaloi of Kabayan, Benguet. From manuscript available through the 
courtesy of the author, Mr. C. R. Moss. 

Kankanai of Bauco, Lepanto. From M. Vanoverbergh. A Grammar of 
Lepanto Igorot as it is spoken at Bauco. Philippine Islands, Bureau of Science, 
Division of Ethnology. Publications, volume 5, part 6, 1917. These people are 
Kankanai according to the classification of H. O. Beyer, Population of the Philip- 
pine Islands in 1916, Manila, 1917. They seem nearly as close to the Bontok in 
speech and culture as to the most southerly Kankanai of northern Benguet, Ameri- 
can students are inclined to simplify ethnic relations of the pagans in the Philippines 
by making tribal or national groups coincide with subprovincial limits. 

Bontok, of the town and subprovince of the same name. From C. W, Seide, 
nadel. The First Grammar of the Igorot Language as spoken by the Bontoc Igorot- 
Chicago, 1909; A. E. Jenks, The Bontoc Igorot, Philippine Islands Ethnological 
Survey, Publications, volume 1, 1905; W. C. Clapp, A Vocabulary of the Igorot 
Language as spoken by the Bontok Igorot, Bureau of Science, Division of Ethnology, 
Pubhcations, volume 5, part 3, 1908; collated and revised with the assistance of 
Mrs. Margaret P. Waterman, for a number of years resident at Bontok. 

Ifugao of Kiangan, Ifugao. R. F. Barton, Ifugao Law, University of California 
Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, volume 15, page 110, 1919. 

Tagalog. JuHus Miles, Metodo para aprender al lenguaje Tag 'log. Barcelona, 
1887. 

Subanun of northwestern Mindanao. J. P. Finley and W. Churchill, The 
Subanu, Carnegie Institution of Washington, publication no. 184, Washington, 1913. 

Lanao Moro of northwestern Mindanao. C. W. Winslow, A Vocabulary and 
Phrase Book of the Lanao Moro Dialect, Bureau of Science, Division of Ethnology, 
Publications, volume 5, part 5, 1913. 

Magindanao Moro of western Mindanao R. S. Porter, A Primer and Vocabu- 
lary of the Moro Dialect, Bureau of Insular Affairs, Washington, 1903. 

Moro of Sulu Island. T. H. Haynes, EngHsh, Sulu, and Malay Vocabulary. 
Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, volume 16, pages 321 to 
384, 1885, volume 18, pages 193-239, 1886. 

Malay. F. A. Swettenham, Vocabulary of the English and Malay Languages. 
London, 1901. 

The Nabaloi, Kankanai, Bontok, and Ifugao are Igorot, that is, 
members of the great block of pagan mountaineers in northern Luzon, 
a people somewhat distinct racially from the lowlanders, and less affected 
than any other, except perhaps a few small parasitic tribes, by Indian, 
Arab, or European influences. The Subanun are pagans in Mindanao, 
dominated by Mohammedan neighbors, but distinct]}^ backward cul- 

75 



76 Anthropological Papers American Miiseiim of Natural History . [Vol. XIX, 

turally. The three Moro groups are of course Mohammedan. Of 
them the Sulu have probably been most and the Lanao least intimately 
in contact with Mohammedan Malaysia in general. The Christian 
Tagalog of central Luzon are the nationality most advanced in western 
civilization of any on the islands. 

While these groups offer a fair sample — geographically as well as 
culturally — of the thirty or more nationalities recognized in the Philip- 
pine archipelago, there is no doubt that farther inclusions would have 
been desirable. It is particularly unfortunate that the Bisaya, the 
largest and most central nationality of the islands, are unrepresented. 
The Ilokano, Pampanga, and Bikol are other Christian groups on which 
information would have been worth while. The same holds of the 
Cagayan and the. eastern Igorot divisions that are linguistically affili- 
ated with them. In Mindanao an eastern pagan tribe, such as the 
Manobo, Bagobo, or Mandaya, would have increased geographical 
balance. But many works of ethnology do not include kinship sj^stems; 
the , dictionaries that exist of most of the languages referred to seem to 
be difficult of access in the United States; and the internal unity of the 
available material does not make it appear that its doubling in bulk 
would even approximately double the accuracy of the inferences drawn. 

The following are the abbreviations used: N, Nabaloi; K, Kan- 
kanai; B, Bontok; I, Ifugao; S, Subanun; L, Lanao Moro; M, Magin- 
donaoMoro; SI, Sulu Moro; T, Tagalog; Mai., Malay. 

Father: N, K, B, I, L, SI, T, aina; S, g-ama; M, ama, bapa; Mai., bapa.''^ 

Mother: N, K, B, I, L, M, SI, ina; S, g-ina; Mai., ibu, mak.^ 

Son, Daughter: N, anaka; K, B, I, T. Mai., anak; S, bata; L, M, wata; Si, 
anak, bata-bata.j In all languages words like lalaki, lee, "male," and babai, fafai, 
libong, "female," are added, to these and to other indeterminate terms, when sex 
is to be definitely specified; just as we use cousin, but help out with "male cousin" 
or "girl cousin" at need. Malay uses lakilaki and prempuan. 

Sibling, irrespective of age or sex; N, agi; B, otad, agi; I, tulang; S, g-ilugu; 
SI, kaka; T, kapatid; Mai., lusud sa tian.^ 

Older sibling: K, agi; B, yuna; L, kaka; T, kaka, panganai. 

Older brother: M, kakal {sic)\ SI, makulong, magulang (also given as "sister"); 
T, kuya; Mai, abang. 

Older sister: M, kaka {sic)] T, ati; Mai., kakak (Haynes, "older sibhng"). 

Younger sibling: K, yugtan; B, anochi; L, ari; Mai., adik. 

Younger brother: SI, taimanghnd. 

Younger sister: M, ali. 

Sibling terms are often given incompletely in the sources, and rarely without 
ambiguity. 



1919.] Kroeber, Philippine Kinship. 77 

Grandparent: N, K, I, L, SI, apo; B, apo, ikit; S, g-apo; M, apu; T, iiuno; 
Mai., nenek, datoh. 

Grandchild: N, I, T, apo; M, apu; B, apo or child; Mai., chuchu. 

Great-grandparent: B, apo; K, ka-apo-an; Mai., moyang. 

Great-grandchild: Mai., plot. 

Uncle, paternal or maternal: N, pang-ama-an; K, alitao; B, alitau or father; I, 
father, sometimes ulitao; L, M, bapa; T, ama-in; Mai., bapa sudara, pa'su.^ 

Uncle, paternal: S, manak. 

Uncle, maternal: S, g-aya. 

Aunt, paternal or maternal: N, pang-ina-an; K, ikit; B, mother; I mother, 
sometimes ulitao; L, M, babu; SI, babu or ina-han; T, ali; Mai., mak muda, mak su."^ 

Nephew, Niece: N, pang-anak-ana ; K, kam-onak-en; B, I, child; M, pagi- 
wata-n; SI, anak-un; T, pam-ank-in; Mai., anak sudara. 

Cousin: N, kasingsing; K, sin-pi-n-s;^n; B, kayim; L, M, Si, tiingud, tiingud, 
tungut; T, pinsan; Mai., pupu. 

Parent-in-law: K, in-apo-'n; K, B, katugangan, katukangan; I, father, mother; 
S, ponongangan; M, bapa ("father-in-law"); T, bi-ana-n; Mai., mertua, mentua. 

Child-in-law: N, in-apo-'n; I, child, M, paki-wata-n {sic, for pagi-?); T, 
manugang, Mai., menantu. 

Sibling-in-law: N, bayana; B, kassud; I, aidu. 

Brother-in-law: K, kasud; M, bati; T, bayao. 

Sister-in-law: K, aido; T, hipag. 

"Brother-in-law bij sister, sister-in-law:" Mai., ipar (c/. T, last entry) 

''Brother-in-law by wife: " Mai., biras (cf. T, next entry). 

Spouse's sibling's spouse: B, ab-filad; T, ang bilas. 

Child-in-law' s parent: T, baisan, balai 

Spouse of kin of preceding generation: I, ama-on, ina-on, ulitao-n. 

Spouse: N, K, B, T, asawa. 

Wife: I, inaya; S, sawa; L, karoma. 

Step-parent: T, uncle, aunt] l^l2^.., father iivi, mother i\v\. 

Step-child: Mai., child tiri. 



" O. Scheerer, The Batan Dialect as a Member of the Philippine Group of Languages, Bureau of 
Science, Division of Ethnology, Publications, volume 5, part 1, 1908, 38-41, gives the terms for father, 
mother, and child in a number of languages not represented here, as follows. " Father" is always ama 
except for a few phonetic variants: Pampanga ibpa, Bisaya of Panay amai, Tirurai abai. "Mother" 
always ina, except, similarly, Pampanga indu, Bisaya of Panay inang, ilai, Tirurai ideng, Bagobo ine. 
"Child," regularly anak, except Kalamian ana, Tirurai onok, Magindanao wata, Bagobo hata, Bikol 
aki (anak is buffalo foetus.) 

Scheerer, ibid., 42 gives the following for brother, sister: Batan kaktek, Cagayan wagi, Ginaan 
(Kalinga) sunut, Ilokano and (Benguet?) Kankanai kabsat, Lepanto (Kankanai) be.sat, Bontok una, 
ptad (for otad? — but cf. Tagalog, Pampanga), Nabaloi and Pangasinan agi, Pampanga kapatad, Tagalog 
kapatid, Bikol tugang {cf. Ifugao tulang), Bisaya of Panay utud {cf. Bontok otad), Magindanao lusud 
sa tian (Malay, not native ) Bagobo adi ("younger brother, friend"). Reed, Negritos of Zambales, 
Ethnological Survey, Publications, volume 2. part 1, 80, 1904, gives, alsoior brother or sister, Sambal 
of Iba talasaka, of Bolinao busat {cf. Ilokano, etc.), Negrito patel {cf. Pampanga, Tagalog). This adds 
two widely distributed stems {ka-)besat and {ka-)pated. 

° Reed, ibid., Sambal of Iba, uncle, bapa. 

^ Reed, ibid., aunt, Sambal of Iba dara, of Bolinao dada, Negrito indo {cf. Pampanga indu, 
mother^. 



78 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIX. 



Analysis of the Data. 

Father: amq. Magindanao uses also hapa, which is either a loan 
from Malay, or a non-differentiation of use of a term for uncle and 
father. 

Mother: ina. Malay alone shows ihu and mak, of which the latter 
seems to mean both aunt and mother, parallel to hapa. 

Son, Daughter: Luzon and Malay, anak; Mindanao, anak or ivata; 
but either term means child generically. 

Brother, Sister: The material is incomplete, but indicates greater 
variablity than for any other set of relationships. The outstanding 
features are (1) normally a generic term for any brother or sister, which 
is perhaps the most frequently used; (2) normally, but not always, 
separate terms for older sibling and younger sibling; (3) no distinction 
for sex except for older brother and sister in the languages of the two 
most civilized peoples, Tagalog and Malay; and (4) an enormous 
variability of the terms used. The commonest are agi, ari, ali, adik, 
which denotes variously sibling or older sibling or younger sibling or 
doler sister, and occurs in almost every language; kaka for older sibling, 
of either or both sexes, in Tagalog, Moro, and Malay; and ka-hesat, 
ka-pated, otad, and tulang, all meaning sibling generically. each in two or 
more separate languages. Other terms have only local usage, and are 
therefore mostly late coinages. It is noticeable that paucity and 
generalization of terms, both as regards sex and age, is greatest among 
the rude pagan peoples, in Mindanao as well as Luzon. Christians and 
Mohammedans are more given to particularizing. Whether they have 
elaborated or the pagans have reduced their terminology is not clear. 
The former process seems the more likely because the culture of the 
Tagalog and Moro and Malay has visibly formed by accretion of im- 
portations, whereas there is no evidence that the culture of the pagans 
has suffered reduction in respects other thar kinship. However, 
separate terms for older and younger sibling do occur among the pagans 
also. It seems therefore that two impulses may long have been opera- 
tive in all the languages; one to distinguish age among siblings, the 
other to class all siblings together. More widely comparative Malaysian 
studies will no doubt settle this point. But sex distinctions are clearly 
an accompaniment of more composite culture, and not original. 



1919.] Kroeber, Philippine Kinship. 79 

Uncle, Aunt, Nepheiv, Niece. One outstanding feature is the 
absence of distinction of the Hne of descent. Only Subanun has manak 
for father's brother and g-aya for mother's brother, and both these 
terms stand etymologicall}^ isolated in the list. The other notable 
trait is the poverty of specific terms for this class of relationships. So 
far as data go, every language lacks a stem meaning nephew-niece, but 
uses either its word for "child" outright, or a derivative from "child," 
or "child" plus a descriptive epithet. To a less degree, corresponding 
usage prevails for uncle and aunt. The Igorot use either "father" and 
"mother," or a derivative therefrom, or the term alitao. Kankanai 
alone has ikit for aunt, which occurs in Bontok for grandparent. 
Tagalog derives uncle from father, and for aunt uses ali, which may be 
an original sibling term. Moro has special words, hapa and hahu, of 
which the former occurs in Sambal and in Malay for father and uncle, 
while habu is replaced by Malay mak, denoting both the mother and the 
aunt. It is notable that in Malay these two generic words hapa and 
mak are augmented by sudara or su when they are to specify the col- 
lateral relative. The general inference from the data at large is that 
there are no ancient specific terms for uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece, or if 
there were, that there has been a general inclination to their disuse. 

Grandparents and Grandchildren. The prevalent term for this 
entire group of relations is apo. As this is also a term of deference, it 
appears that it is either a common noun which was applied to elders 
and grandparents and then by reciprocity to grandchildren; or that it 
is an originally reciprocal kinship term, whose application tc older 
relatives predominated in native consciousness and thus was extended 
into an honorific. A second stem is represented by Tagalog nuno, 
Malay nenek, grandparent. Tagalog retains apo for grandchild, Malay 
has replaced it by chuchu. Nowhere is sex distinguished in this class 
of relatives. 

Great-grandparents, Great-grandchildren. Data are scant. The 
Igorot seem to use apo or derivatives from apo. Malay has specific 
terms. 

Cousin. There is no general word. Mohammedans and Chris- 
tians use a variety of terms with European significance. The Igorot 
also have distinct words, which however seem to mean really kinsman, 
companion, or friend. It is likely that the Tagalog, Moro, and Malay 
terms originated similarly. 



80 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIX, 

Parent-in-law, Child-in-law. Sex is not distinguished except in 
Magindanao, which appears to use the father-uncle and mother-aunt 
terms. Ifugao says merely father, mother, or child. Magindanao uses 
a derivative from child for child-in-law. Nabaloi employs a self- 
reciprocal derivative from apo, grandparent-grandchild. Kankanai 
and Bontok have a distinct term katukangan for parent-in-law, the 
ending of which may reappear in Subanun ponongangan: both words 
are obviously expanded from simpler stems. The terms for child-in- 
law in these three languages are not available. Tagalog has a distinct 
word for child-in-law, manugang, and possibly for parent-in-law, 
hianan. Mala}^ follows a different principle from the Philippine languages : 
mentua is parent-in-law, menantu child-in-law. If these two terms go 
back to the same root, they constitute the only case of even approximate 
verbal reciprocity in Malay. 

Brother-in-law, Sister-in-law. So far as the data go, each language 
normally has terms of its own. Kankanai kasud, brother-in-law, re- 
appears in Bontok, and aido, sister-in-law, in Ifugao, but in each case 
with the more generic meaning of sibling-in-law. Nabaloi also does not 
discriminate sex. Tagalog does. It seems therefore that the distinction 
is characteristic of complex as contrasted with simple civilization. 
Malay adheres to a different principle : the sex of the person denoted is 
indeterminate, but there appear to be distinct words according as the 
connection is through one's spouse or sibling. The two Malay terms 
however reappear in Tagalog, although with different meaning. 

Other Connections by Marriage. Bontok and Tagalog possess terms, 
which seem to be etymologically related, by which the spouses of sib- 
lings refer to each other. For Tagalog two terms are given as used by 
the parents of spouses. These may be formed on the analogy of Spanish 
consuegros. Ifugao sometimes adds -on to the words for father, mother, 
uncle, aunt, to designate the spouses of kin of an older generation. 
There are likely to be unrecorded terms, corresponding to those here 
mentioned, in other languages. 

Husband and Wife: asawa is the commonest term. It seems always 
to have the generic meaning of spouse. 

Step-relatives. Tagalog calls step-parents uncle or aunt. Magin- 
danao similarly uses its uncle-father term bapa for stepfather. In 
other languages data are lacking. Malay adds tiri precisely as we 
prepose ''step-." This does not appear to be a native Filipino practice, 
and probably represents an adaptation of Malay to Eurasiatic practice. 



1919.1 Kroeber, Philippine Kinship. 81 



Reconstruction of the Ancient System. 

Filipino kinship systems appear to reduce to the following scheme : — 

1, ama, father. 

2, ina, mother. 

3, anak or wata, child, nephew, niece, child-in-law. 

4, probably a term for older sibling: kaka. 

5, probably a term for youngei sibling; possibly ari. 

6, probably a generic term for sibling, though this, unless it is ari, is scarcely 
recoverable from the Philippine data alone. The concept, like the words, may be 
secondary; but its wide prevalence indicates antiquity. 

7, apo, possibly nono as alternative, self-reciprocal for grandparents and grand- 
children. 

8, possibly hapa for paternal and maternal uncle, father-in-law, stepfather, 
that is males of the father's generation generically, not excluding the father himself. 

9, possibly a corresponding term for females of the mother's generation, 

10, 11, one or two terms for brother-in-law and sister-in-law. 

12, perhaps a term for parent-in-law. 

13, asawa, spouse. 

Other relationships have been expressed by non-kinship words 
secondarily given a kinship reference in local usage; by including the 
more remote relationships in the significance of the above primary 
terms; or by affix or composite derivatives from the primary terms. 

The simplicity and adaptability of this system are obvious. It 
operates with its meager resources by merging most collateral with 
lineal kin; by mostly treating connections by marriage as if they were 
blood kin, with the logical implication that spouses are one person; by 
not distinguishing sex, except in parents, perhaps uncles and aunts, and 
possibly siblings-in-law ; and by nowhere bifurcating, that is, discrimi- 
nating the line of descent, the sex through which relationship exists. 
The primary consideration is generation; this is slightly elaborated by 
hesitating and inconsistent introduction of the factors of collaterality, 
sex, marriage, and absolute age. Reciprocity is of moment. Self- 
reciprocal terms occur in every language, and in the Philippines as a 
whole are found in every class of relationships except the parent-child 
group. 



82 Anthropological Papers A merican Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIX, 



Lines of Development of the Ancient System. 

Intertribal divergences, both as regards specific concepts and the 
words used, are considerable. This fact indicates an active play of 
etymological and semantic influences. But departures from the general 
logical scheme are much slighter, so as to suggest that the subconscious 
method of conceptualization has been rather tenaciously adhered to. 

This is rather remarkable in view of the fact that pagan, Moham- 
medan, and Christian peoples, coast and mountain dwellers, literate 
and illiterate tribes, are involved; and that the degree of exposure of the 
several Philippine nationalities to Indian, Arab, and Spanish cultural 
influences has been extremely diverse. It is true that the social fabric 
as such has probably altered less in the Philippines in the past thousand 
years than religions and knowledge, and certainly less than material 
arts and industries. But there have been fairly profound variations of 
general civilization; and theoretically these seem as capable of modify- 
ing a scheme of kinship reckoning as are social institutions in their nar- 
rower sense. That these variations of general civilization have affected 
the scheme so little, except in superficial details, shows that a method of 
thought involved in dealing with blood relationship may sometimes 
possess a surprising historical tenacity. It is tempting in the present 
case to attribute this tenacity in part to the simplicity of the principles 
on which the system is based and the comparatively strict consistency 
with which they can consequently be adhered to. 

It is true that there are differences of kinship system corresponding 
to the differences of level or type of culture: what is interesting is 
that they are proportionally so small. The pagan Igorot systems are 
perhaps somewhat nearest to the original scheme, if the attempted re- 
construction of this is approximately correct. Among these, however, 
the extremely simple systems, as represented by Ifugao, may be partly 
the result of a progressive and extreme process of reduction. The 
pagans of Mindanao, if the Subanun are typical, perhaps stand nearest 
to the pagans of Luzon, though the data are too imperfect for any very 
valid conclusion. The Mohammedans of Mindanao are still rather close 
to the generic scheme. If the existence of specific terms for uncle, 
aunt, and older and younger sibling proves to be ancient, the Moro 
seem not to have departed more than the Igorot from the original system; 
if otherwise, Malay influence on the Moro is indicated. The Christian 



1919.] Kroeber, Philippine Kinship. 83 

peoples, so far as the Tagalog may adequately stand for them, have 
diverged principally in developing special terms for connections by mar- 
riage. This may well be due to the influence of Christian law and 
European usage. 

The Malay system, although indubitably resting on the same 
foundation, has plainly come to difTer more from all the Philippine sys- 
tems than these differ from one another, not only in actual terminology, 
but in the introduction of several new methods or points of view. Such 
a divergence is expectable from the more thorough Mohammedanization 
of the Malays and their much freer contacts with foreign civilizations. 

Correspondence of Institutions and the Kinship Scheme. 

The principles characterizing native society in the Philippines are : — 

1. A lack of political structure or sense, except where foreign influence, chiefly 
Mohammedan, is clear. 

2. The place of political organization is taken by an organization on the basis 
of actual kinship, modified secondarily by community of residence or economic 
interests. 

3. The stratification of society into wealthy, poor, and economically deficient 
is emphasized by the translation of these classes into nobility, free, and slaves. 

4. There is no chieftainship other than as based on the combination of personal 
qualities with preeminence among the nobility, that is, precedence in wealth. Excep- 
tions are again due to Mohammedan — or Christian — influence. 

5. Property being wholly transmitted by inheritance except for some consump- 
tion in sacrifice, and rank inclining to follow wealth, there is a strong tendency for 
social status to be hereditary. 

6. The mechanism of law is economic instead of political. Legal claims are 
enforced only by the threat or exercise of violence, and adjusted by transfers of 
property. 

7. There are no totems, clans, nor any system of exogamy between artificial 
kin groups. 

8. Women are socially the equals of men. This is clear from their position in 
marriage, descent, and the holding of property. The division of labor between the 
sexes is on a physiological rather than a social basis. 

The distinctive traits thus are the importance of blood kinship and 
of economic factors, the insignificance of political and exogamous or 
''arbitrary" aspects of society, and the non-differentiation of the sexes. 
These features reveal Filipino society as simple and ''natural" in 
character; that is, close to its biological substratum, and comparatively 
free from the purely social creations or elaborations that tend to flourish 
in many other parts of the world. 



84 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XIX, 

The kinship schemes accord well with these institutions. The 
equality of the sexes is reflected in the paucity of the sex-limited terms 
of relationship and in the total absence of any terms implying the sex of 
the ego or person to whom the relationship exists. The failure to sepa- 
rate kindred in the male and female line may be connectible with the 
same equalizing of the sexes in actual life; or with the want of clans and 
other artificial exogamic groups which in order to maintain their identity 
must reckon descent unilaterally; or with both factors. The organiza- 
tion of society on a basis of blood is likely to have something to do with 
the disinclination to distinguish lineal and collateral relatives. Even 
the tendency to treat the spouse's kin as blood kin may have some con- 
nection with the social balance or non-differentiation of the sexes. At 
any rate, where the social status of men and women is markedly and 
fortifiedly distinct, it seems extremely unlikely that a man could feel 
his wife's father to be sufficiently identical with his own father for him 
to call him father : the psychology of the terminology would clash with 
the psychology of the relation as it does not clash in Filipino life. 

Theoretical Principles Involved. 

As to the question whether kinship terminologies may be construed 
rather as reflecting institutional or linguistic or vaguer psychological 
conditions, the present material points to the following inferences. 

Kinship systems are considerably but superficially modified by 
linguistic and even dialectic factors. The effect of these factors is 
great enough to make the prediction of any specific institution from any 
specific term or set of terms extremely venturesome. Institutions and 
terminologies unquestionably parallel or reflect each other at least to 
the degree that a marked discrepance of plan is rare. Institutions 
probably shape terminologies causally, but in the main by influencing 
or permitting a logical scheme. In a sense this logical scheme under- 
lies both institution and terminology, so that the correlation between 
them, although actual, can be conceived as indirect. Development of 
particular terms or their denotation under the influence of institutions 
may occur to a greater or less extent, but is constantly liable to distortion 
by linguistic factors. The influence on kinship terminology of general 
levels of culture — those other than narrowly social or institutional ones, 
seems not to have been seriously examined. The present case shows 
that such influence may be rather less significant than might be expected 
in a transition from a state of comparative savagery to one of compar- 
ative civilization. 



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